Here We Go Again
by Lady GreyWolf
Summary: My first complete DW, set during Season3.. Susan has been through something terrible and when a certain Mr Smith arrives at her old school, things start to happen...
1. Chapter 1

My first finished DW-fic :D yay Just to make it clear; the school in the story is in my mind my old school that I still visit, and spoilers for upcoming chapters I do not think my old principal is that bad

_My first finished DW-fic :D yay Just to make it clear; the__ school in the story is in my mind my old school that I still visit, and spoilers for upcoming chapters I do not think my old principal is that bad._

--

"So, here we are."

Susan smiled at her friend's surprised look.

"Oh my God, is this your former school?" Faya asked. "It looks so new!"

"They rebuild it when I was ten", Susan answered and started to walk over the lawn. "Then they've made some changes since I ended my time here as well."

"But this is what you call your home?" Faya said, running to keep the same pace as her taller friend.

"Nowadays, yes", Susan answered, her tone short. The matter of _home_ was something she didn't like to discuss. Her own house had burned down only a few months ago and Susan had been the only survivor, along with the two rabbits. The rest of her family; her parents, her two sisters and the two birds, had all died in the fires.

Except for the rabbits, Susan had only been able to save some of her private things. How she'd been able to, no one knew, but she had escaped the flames with several books, writings, clothes and even her portable computer. As she hadn't had anywhere to go, her old principal had offered her a room at her old school that was no longer used.

Faya thought it quite funny that Susan had spent all of those years here in this one flat building, called it her true home, and now it actually was. Though she would never tell Susan that, her friend was a bit cranky about such things at the moment. She still blamed herself for her family's death.

Suddenly, Susan stopped and wrinkled her forehead.

"What is he doing there?" she muttered. Faya looked up and noticed a man trying to unlock a door. Susan started to run up the side of the hill, entering the actual grounds of the school. The man turned as he heard her approach. His brown hair was a real mess, Faya noticed, but his eyes were so dark that they could probably be a reflection of the midnight sky. He grinned at them.

"What are you doing?" Susan asked.

"Trying to get in", the man answered. Susan sighed.

"Yes, I can see that, but what for?"

"I'm School Inspector Smith", the man answered, holding up a paper to them.

"You know, that paper is blank", Faya said.

"What is the Inspector doing here at this time of the day?" Susan said, arms crossed over her chest.

"Waiting for someone to let me in", Smith answered. "I called the principal last night, she said that someone named Susan Thompson would be here to let me in. Apparently it was a bit too early for her as well."

Susan winced, before unfolding her arms.

"Come, you're standing at the wrong door", she said, leading both Inspector Smith and Faya around the house to another door. She then pulled up a key and unlocked the door, letting them in.

"Ah, thanks a lot", the Inspector said, stepping inside the school. Faya looked around with a curious look. The walls were painted in a soft, bright peach colour, while the doors leading to the different classrooms and offices were bright yellow.

"Well, it looks quite fresh, actually", the Inspector said, stepping into the corridor.

"You'll get a mark for that."

Susan was leaning against the wall behind him, eying him intensely. Faya got the impression that she was looking at someone trespassing on her grounds, which was probably the truth, since this house was now Susan's home. The Inspector stopped on one leg.

"What mark?" he asked.

"No one is allowed to use the same shoes as outside in the corridors", Susan answered. She nodded at a metal line on the floor.

"If you cross that line, you get a mark."

"Oh."

The Inspector took a jump back, pulled off his shoes and then stepped into the corridor. Faya held back a laugh. It had looked really funny when the Inspector had jumped like that.

"Well, miss Thompson…"

"Susan", Susan said in a sharp tone. "No _miss Thompson_, no _Mrs Thompson_, no _Susan Thompson_. Just Susan."

"Oh."

The Inspector seemed taken by surprise, but quickly recovered.

"Well, Susan", he said. "It actually looks really good in here. Clean, fresh, windows everywhere and big classrooms."

"You're done, then?" Susan said.

"No", the Inspector said, turning towards the girls again. "I need to see how students like it here, talk to some of the teachers and the principal, of course, and attend to a few classes."

"Then why show up at seven in the morning?" Susan asked, keeping an eye on every single step he made.

"Hoped to be alone, that's all", Smith answered.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, Mr Smith", Susan said under her breath. The Inspector looked at her for a while, before he continued down the corridor.

"Can you keep an eye on him?" Susan asked Faya. The darker girl looked surprised.

"Why?"

"I do not trust him", Susan answered. "He's hiding something."

"But you'll leave me here with him?" Faya said, still confused.

"I trust you, Faya", Susan answered as she opened a door to another corridor. "You're my best friend. I wouldn't leave you here unless I did trust you with my whole heart."

Then she disappeared. Faya couldn't help but think that those words had probably been the most open-hearted thing Susan had said since the fire.

Susan didn't intend to leave Faya too long with Mr Smith. She just needed to get to her room and find something she'd been hiding from everyone.

When she closed the door behind her, she sank down with her back to it. What had happened to her? Who had she really become? She was probably still in a shock after the fire, that she had pushed to the back of her mind. After taking a deep breath, she rose once again and continued to her small chest next to her bed. The top was locked and only she had the key to it. Now she took it out from it's hiding beneath her shirt and unlocked it. The drawer seemed to be empty, but Susan put down her finger in the corner of the bottom and lifted it up. Beneath the fake bottom lay a gun. She knew that it belonged to the person who had burned her family, since she'd found it outside right after she'd escaped.

She shook her head, getting rid of the memory, and instead put the gun in the pocket of her long cardigan.

"Excuse me?"

The female voice made her spin around. She didn't recognize it. As her hand hadn't left her pocket yet, she easily pulled the gun up again, pointing it at the dark woman in the door. The woman took a step back.

"Who are you?" Susan asked.

"I'm… Martha Jones", the woman answered and swallowed.

"How did you get in?"

"The door was open, I just… I'm a friend of Mr Smith."

Susan kept the gun up as she walked back into the corridor.

"Prove it", she hissed.

"Tell me the truth!" she roared when she didn't get any answer.

"Stop it!"

Inspector Smith came running through the corridor. Faya came after him.

"Susan, what are you doing?" her friend called. Susan looked at her for a while before her eyes turned to Smith instead.

"Someone you recognize?" she said, nodding towards the woman.

"Yes, that's Martha Jones, my assistant", the Inspector answered. "I told her to stay in the car until the students began to show up, but obviously she was a bit curious about this school."

Susan looked at him for a moment, before she took down the gun. Martha let out a gasp, before she stepped away, taking her place by the Inspector's side. Smith looked at Susan with his forehead wrinkled.

Susan, on the other hand, just put the gun back in her pocket and walked back into her room, slamming the door behind her.

"I thought she was going to kill me", Martha whispered.

"Luckily, she wasn't", Smith said, walking down the corridor. Faya gave Martha a look.

"I guess I have to apologize for my friend's behaviour", she said, looking at the closed door. "She's had quite a rough time lately."

"It looks like that", Martha said as they started to walk after Inspector Smith. "Mind telling me what has happened?"

"I'm afraid that is her business", Faya said. "She is the only one who can tell you both."

She looked back at the closed door.

"But she lives here, at the school?" Martha said.

"Yes."

None of them noticed that Inspector Smith had stopped in the end of the corridor, listening to their talk. Even though he found it hard to admit, there was something about young Susan Thompson that he needed to sort out. As his assistant and the smaller girl came up to him, Faya checked her watch.

"The teachers will show up pretty soon for the morning meetings", she said. "Maybe you would like to talk to them?"

"Yes, that I would", Smith said, turning to her. "Please show the way, miss…"

"Faya", Faya said as she realised she hadn't introduced herself. "Faya Derton."

"Alright, please show the way, miss Faya", Inspector Smith said and walked away along the corridor. Faya stood still with Martha.

"Don't worry, that's not unusual", Martha whispered as they started to walk after him.


	2. Chapter 2

Susan sat still in her room, looking at the gun in her hand

Susan sat still in her room, looking at the gun in her hand. She had almost killed someone. Tears were flooding down her cheeks at the very thought of it. She had only had the revenge in her mind since she'd seen her life disappear with the fire. But if she killed someone, wouldn't that make her just as bad as the one who'd killed her family?

"What has happened to me?" she whispered to herself, laying down on the bed, placing the gun on her stomach. A careful knock on the door didn't make her move.

"Are you alright?"

It was the new woman, Martha. She recognized her voice this time.

"No", she whispered, wiping away some tears. Martha carefully came closer and sat down on a chair next to the bed.

"Your friend said that… you've been through something horrible", Martha said, slowly.

"I have, but don't make me remember it", Susan answered, still looking up in the roof. "I just wish to forget it."

"Maybe you'll feel better if you talk about it", Martha suggested.

"I won't", Susan answered, looking at the woman. "Honestly, it's better this way."

"You're sure?"

"Totally."

Susan's eyes gave Martha a sharp look and the older girl looked away. There was something about Susan that reminded her of her friend.

"What time is it, by the way?" Susan said as she rose and rubbed her face with both hands.

"About eight, I suppose", Martha answered.

"Well, I better be off then", Susan sighed. "Logan will need me."

"Who's Logan?" Martha asked as they walked out the door.

"My former teacher", Susan answered as they walked down the corridor. "I help him in class every time I have a day off. Like today, when the teachers in the high schools have a meeting."

"So, you want to become a teacher?" Martha wondered as they came into the corridor where the door was.

"Yep", Susan answered and kicked off her shoes, placing them on a rack. "You better do that as well, no shoes allowed…"

"On the other side of that line", Martha said with a smile. "Faya told me."

Susan smiled.

"Ah, there you are!"

Inspector Smith's familiar voice was heard along the corridor.

"Martha, you've got to see this!" he called. Susan raised an eyebrow at him, before walking into the office alongside Martha. Smith was looking at one of the projectors that had not yet been put up in its classroom.

"What are you using this for?" he asked Susan.

"Teaching", Susan answered.

"Yes, but it's a projector!" Smith exclaimed. "What a perfect device, I never thought I'd see one in this time…"

"Sir, are you alright?" Susan asked. "If you haven't noticed, a lot of schools use projectors these days."

"Yes, yes, I know", Inspector Smith answered, waving with his hand at her. "But just look at it! Top modern, no faults at all…"

"You know, Mr Smith", Martha said in a loud voice. "Can I have a private word with you?"

"Yes, go on", Smith said, looking up. Martha gave Susan a look.

"Nah, she can stay here", Smith said, grinning. "It's all…"

"Not again!" Martha whispered, looking out through the windows. Susan followed her gaze.

"It's raining", she said. "There's no problem with that, is it?"

"Don't you see?" Martha said. "It's not like it should be…"

"The drops are going up…" Smith whispered, his good mood had disappeared in a moment.

"They're coming, aren't they?" Martha whispered.

"Who?" Susan asked. "What are you two talking about?"

She hardly managed to finish the sentence before the whole building started to shake violently. They all fell to the floor, trying to avoid things falling from shelves.

"Susan!"

The voice came from the door. Susan looked there and noticed Logan, her old teacher and friend, lying there, trying to reach her.

"Stay there!" Inspector Smith called. "The less people in one room, the better!"

And then, the shaking stopped. Susan slowly rose, along with the three others.

"They've done it again, haven't they?" Martha whispered.

"Could you please tell me who _they_ are?" Susan called out. When both Martha and Mr Smith turned to look at her, she could see out through the windows. The landscape outside almost made her heart stop beating.

"Oh my God", she whispered. Logan came to her side and put a hand on her shoulder. He was just as shocked as she was.

"We're on the moon!" Susan managed to whisper and looked at her homeplanet in the black sky.

"Is it you they are after this time?" Martha asked, turning to Smith.

"I do not know, do I?" Smith answered.

"Who are these _they_ you are talking about?" Susan asked, for the third time in a couple of minutes.

"Judoon", Smith answered in a bitter tone. "Galactic Stormtroopers."

"Are they the ones who've done this?" Logan answered.

"I think so, yeah", Smith answered. "Might be someone else, but the Judoon are the most likely ones. They've done it before."

"They have?" Susan said in surprise.

"Royal New Hope Hospital", Martha answered. "They transported it here as well. We were there."

They looked out the windows again and saw a large ship land outside.

"That's the Judoon-ship?" Logan asked, swallowing.

"No, it's not", Smith said, confused. "It's someone else."

The ship split in half as he spoke and a giant stepped out, about ten metres high.

"Oh", Smith said as he saw the giant. "Well, that changes things."

"It does?" Martha said. "What is that?"

"A giant, Martha", Smith answered. "And that means we've got to get this school back right away. You make sure that everyone's alright. There aren't too many here at the moment, are there?"

The last sentence he directed towards Logan. The teacher shook his head.

"No, we do not open the doors for students until a quarter past eight."

"Then we should have a chance", Smith said, rushing past them.

"How are you going to get us back?" Susan asked, stepping out in the corridor after him.

"I'll figure something out, I promise", Smith answered, continuing down the corridor.

"Is he always like that?" Susan asked, turning to Martha.

"Yes, almost all the time", Martha sighed. "Sometimes it's quite annoying."

"He's annoyed me since he came here", Susan muttered. Then she hurried after him through the corridors.


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you mean with help me

"What do you mean with _help me_?" Smith exclaimed. "I can do this, I know I can."

"You don't know the school as I do, if you just tell me what you're looking for I can show you that!"

Susan put her hands on her hips, looking at the Inspector.

"You know, we might die", Smith said, eying her.

"So what?" Susan said, looking out through the window. Smith believed that she would continue the sentence, but she stood silent. After a while, he sighed.

"Come on, then", he said. "But I won't be held responsible for what happens to you!"

They continued down the corridor, approaching the principal's office. Outside the door, Susan stopped Smith.

"Maybe I should go first", she said. "She might be in a shock and if she sees someone that she knows, it might be easier for her to handle things."

Smith winced, but allowed Susan to go through the door and close it behind her.

"Ah, Susan."

Principal McLain smiled at the girl in front of her desk. Susan found that quite confusing. Hadn't McLain noticed what had happened?

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but we could need some help", she said. McLain continued to smile.

"Of course you do", she said, rising and looking out through the windows. "You need help to get us all away from here."

"Yes, but…"

"But you also wonder why I don't seem startled by all of this?"

McLain turned towards her former student once again. She'd been the principal for over twenty years now and her once blonde hair had turned almost white. Still, she stood and walked like a soldier in the army and her dark brown eyes pierced every student that visited her office.

"Haven't you realised yet?" McLain said, smiling as she sat down once again. "My dear Susan, I thought you had a brighter brain than this."

"You… you transported us here?" Susan whispered.

"The perfect day to do it on, wasn't it?" McLain said, pulling out a drawer. "Not only will this cursed school disappear forever, but I'll also get rid of the Doctor."

"Who?"

McLain didn't answer, instead she grabbed something in the drawer and pulled it up. Susan gasped.

"You! You did that! You killed my family!"

"That was not my intentions", McLain answered, rising with the gun in her hand.

"You destroyed my life!"

"I only needed your life, needed you to be gone", McLain said as she walked around the desk. "But instead, someone moved the detonator to the other part of the house."

"What detonator?" Susan exclaimed, feeling the hate boiling in her blood.

"Susan, what's going on in there?"

She'd completely forgotten Mr Smith outside the door. Now she desperately tried to open it.

"The door's stuck, I can't open it!" she called.

"How sad for you", McLain said, coming closer with the gun pointed at the girl.

"What did you want with my life, McLain?" Susan asked, turning with her back against the door.

"I knew you would be the only one liking this school, you would be the one who returned. The only one who could bring the school to the next stage is you."

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Susan asked, swallowing. "Bringing this school back to the top?"

"I needed this school as my hiding-place", McLain answered. "If I brought it higher, if _someone_ brought it higher, changes would come."

She smiled, spinning the gun in her hand.

"You know, since you are here, you know what I've done, maybe it's time for you to remember?"

"Remember what?"

"The night… when you lost everything!"

McLain rose her left hand and put the palm on Susan's forehead. The pain that shot out from it made Susan scream.

Smith banged the door, trying to force it to open. How could it lock like this? It was impossible. He heard Susan scream on the other side.

"Susan!" he called, banging the door over and over again.

"What has happened?"

Logan, Faya and Martha came rushing through the corridor.

"Well, Susan decided to go in there alone, but then the door locked and she was saying something about a detonator and then she started to scream…"

"Detonator?" Faya said in surprise.

"I can't hear everything", Smith exclaimed. "Does anyone have a key to this room?"

"Only the principal", Logan answered. The ground shook when the giant came closer outside the building.

"Very well", Smith said, picking something up from his inner pocket.

"What's that?" Faya asked.

"This?" Smith said, grinning. "My sonic screwdriver."

He pointed the blue lamp at the door, it gave a small beeping sound and the door unlocked. As the door flew open, Susan's screams grew louder.

"Get away from her!" Smith called when he saw what was happening. McLain's dark eyes turned to him.

"Doctor", she hissed. "What a coincidence."

"Release her!" he called again.

"What can you do to stop me from finally killing her?" McLain hissed, taking away her palm from Susan's forehead. The girl fell to the floor, tears streaming from her eyes. Logan sank down beside her, gently helping her to sit up.

"Doctor, she's right!" Martha called. "She has a stronghold here!"

Smith, or the Doctor, stood completely still in facing McLain.

"You are one of the witches from Treqala, I can see it in your eyes", he said. "Though it is visible you have never met one of my kind before."

"You can't be harder than anyone else I've faced", McLain said, pulling up the gun once again. "You all die just the same."

"What drove you here in the first place, McLain?" the Doctor said in a clear voice.

"As if you didn't know, Doctor. You've been through the same thing. Humans are weak without us. If we weren't here, what would happen to them?"

She smiled.

"They would die, Doctor", she continued. "We are the only ones who can keep them alive, keep them breathing their precious air. Or, on the other hand, make them die because of that they keep us away from doing it."

"What are you talking about?" Faya asked. She was still standing in the door alongside Martha.

"Keep your mouth shut, girl", McLain hissed. "This is between the Doctor and me."

"No, it's not."

Susan's voice was weak, but her eyes were clear when she looked up at McLain.

"It's not between you and the Doctor", she said, slowly getting to her feet once again. "This is between you and me. I was the one standing in your way, and you were the one who murdered my family."

"Foolish little girl", McLain cackled. "You want some more?"

"I'm not afraid of you anymore", Susan said. "You've already broken my heart and torn it out of my chest."

"Susan, let me take care of this", the Doctor said. She shook her head with a small smile.

"No, Doctor. Not this time."

"Oh, so that's what you want?" McLain said. "To protect him. Well, then it's time for him to… remember!"

Her palm was glued to the Doctor's forehead. He screamed when he for a moment seemed to be soaring over Torchwood, seeing Rose holding on for her dear life.

"Rose!" he screamed. Susan rushed forward and knocked McLain over. She saw how the Doctor fell to the floor, but she didn't turn away from McLain. Not this time.

"Do not ever harm my friends", Susan hissed and linked them by putting her palm on the witch's forehead.

Nothing happened and she moved away. McLain immediately got to her feet and instead put her palm on Susan's forehead. Once again she was surrounded by the flames that destroyed her house. Then she took a deep breath and everything went away. She was floating in a peaceful lagoon, hearing nothing but the water around her and the breeze that flew through the trees. Fear had left her long ago.

McLain gave a scream of fear when she wasn't able to remove her palm from Susan's forehead.

"What is she doing?" Logan asked, helping Martha steady the Doctor.

"Reversing it", the Doctor whispered. There was a lightning shooting out into McLain's hand, the witch screamed and fell backwards, where she turned into dust. Susan fell to the floor, unconscious. Logan and Faya helped getting her out of the room. Outside they heard the giant wandering around.

"What is he doing?" Martha asked, steadying the Doctor as they walked through the corridors.

"Waiting for orders", the Doctor answered. His face was dark and he looked sick. Martha didn't know what he had remembered, but it was about Rose, his former companion whom he'd lost some time before she met him. And she knew that this was not the time to discuss things with him.

"How is she?" she called back to Logan, who was carrying Susan.

"Still breathing, but not much else", he called back. He hardly finished before the hand of the giant ran through the roof behind him, its fingers scratching on the floor and trying to reach them. The Doctor looked up. After he had _remembered_, as the witch had called it, he felt like he hadn't got anything to keep living for. Rose was gone, his home was gone, what had he got left?

"You continue, I'll take care of him", he said, releasing himself from Martha's arm.

"Are you mad?" she asked.

"Maybe", he answered, shrugging before rushing back towards the hand.


	4. Chapter 4

Susan slowly opened her eyes, looking up in Martha's face

Susan slowly opened her eyes, looking up in Martha's face.

"Is she gone?" she whispered. Martha nodded, giving a faint smile.

"We're running out of air", she said when she noticed Susan's worried look. "It's best not to talk too much."

Susan nodded, slowly sitting up. She noticed Faya and Logan not too far away, sitting with their backs at the wall.

"Where's the Doctor?" Susan asked. Martha looked out through the window. Susan blinked twice, before she rose and quickly walked out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Faya asked.

"To help him", Susan answered.

"What can you do against a giant?"

This time it was Logan who asked the question.

"I do not know, yet", Susan sighed and walked away through the corridor. She turned left to the principal's office and took the gun that lay on the floor. If there was a time when she would need it, it was now.

When she walked back into the corridor, she noticed a hole in the roof. She looked up into the universe, trying to see if the Doctor was there. It was impossible to say, but she thought she still heard the giant walking around out there. Though, he couldn't be too close since the ground didn't shake too much.

Susan looked around and noticed a table and some chairs. Hopefully they would help her get up on the roof. She placed the table right beneath the hole and then put the chair on top of it. When she climbed up, she was able to get most of her upper body up through the hole. She placed the gun in front of her and took a jump off from the chair. The chair then fell off from the table and she was dangling halfway through the roof. With a groan she managed to put up her left leg on the roof and roll onto it, gasping for air. There must be some kind of a bubble around them, she thought, as she was able to breathe out here as well.

When she managed to rise, she noticed the Doctor laying some metres away. She rushed to his side. He was unconscious, but she couldn't find any wounds on him. Maybe the giant had squeezed him with his strong hand? In any case, the giant had hurt him, a man that she first hadn't believed in but then had turned into a friend.

"Hey!" she called to the shadow of the giant in the distance. The shadow stopped and seemed to turn.

"It's me you want, isn't it?" she bellowed. "Then come and get me!"

She felt the ground shake beneath her feet as the giant came back, his small, red eyes glooming in the dark. Susan raised the gun. How far would she be able to shoot? She didn't know, but she knew she had to do it before he was able to reach her.

He wasn't far away now. She could feel the air disappearing from her lungs. It was harder up here.

"Killed my master!" the giant roared, pointing with his finger towards Susan. She pulled the trigger, a bullet hit the giant in its mouth. He roared with pain and started running. It was hard to stand up on the roof while the Moon shook violently.

"Revenge!" the giant called. Another bullet flew into his mouth, he roared again. But he continued forward. Susan started to walk backwards. Where could she hit him so he died? It was impossible to penetrate his armour and reach his heart with such a small gun. She rose her hand once again, this time aiming higher. The third bullet hit the giants left eye and black blood started pouring down his cheeks. This time, the giant stopped and tried to get the bullet away.

"Susan…"

The whisper was barely heard through the giant's roaring, but she did hear it. And she sank down beside the Doctor. His eyes were not open, but he was speaking; he was alive.

"His ear", he whispered. Susan looked up at the beast once again and pulled the trigger for the fourth time.

But no bullet came. She had run out of them.

"Damn!" she cursed. The Doctor slowly rose behind her, steadying himself against her shoulder.

"Here", he said, placing something in her hand. She looked at it in surprise. It looked almost like a pen or some kind of screwdriver, but with a blue lamp in the end of it.

"But…"

"Here", he whispered again, grabbing her hand and raising it. He guided her fingers to the right button and when the giant turned his side towards them, they both pushed the button. The sound that came from it seemed to make the air that was still around them vibrate and the giant, outside the bubble of air and not used to sounds, as there are no sounds in space, roared in pain once again, placing his hands over his ears. But it didn't help, just like the witch he began to turn into dust and was soon gone. The Doctor released her hand and fell back to the ground. Susan understood why; they'd run out of air. She was coughing, trying to get what oxygen that was left. The Doctor looked at her, his eyes were red and she guessed her own started to look the same.

With the support of one another, they managed to get to the hatch that the porter used to get up to the roof. They climbed down the ladder, or more fell down it, as none of them had the strength to climb, and then sat together in the end of the corridor. Susan slowly felt her consciousness drifting away.

"Susan", the Doctor whispered once again, while he was trying to breathe. She gave him a thin smile, before her eyes fell close.

"It's raining", he whispered, leaning his cheek on her head and closing his own eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

The rain had transported the school back to earth, where they were all welcomed by worried pupils and parents, police and doctors

The rain had transported the school back to earth, where they were all welcomed by worried pupils and parents, police and doctors. When Susan was lead out, the last of them all, she was surprised to see that the Doctor was no where around. How had he got out so fast? Martha was sitting on a bench together with Faya and Logan. Faya's parents came running to see that their daughter was okay and they soon led her away to their car. Logan's wife greeted him with hugs, kisses and tears before also he was led away to a car, taken away from what had happened. The school would not open this day, the teachers needed to rest and also, a new principal had to be chosen.

"Are you okay?" Martha said, joining Susan. Susan nodded, taking a deep breath of air.

"I guess", she answered. Martha nodded.

"It was even more horrible this time than the last one", she said. "This time we didn't know how to get back when the witch was gone."

"Maybe what was needed was that we defeated both her and the giant", Susan said with a faint smile.

"Martha Jones?"

One of the doctors came up to them.

"We could need your help", he said. "There are a lot of people that need support and you are a doctor who is very good at calming people down."

Martha nodded and rose, following him back to the ambulances. Susan looked after her for a while, before she rose and walked around the building.

The sounds seemed to disappear as she came to the door where they'd first met the Doctor in the morning. She didn't stop there. Instead she walked up to the small grove next to the building. She had spent most of her time there, when there were no lessons. It was a nice feeling to walk among the trees, mostly birch, and stones on the ground, feel the grass touch your legs and know that there were not only buildings here; there were also nature.

"Are you alright?"

His voice startled her and she spun around, facing him. The Doctor gave her a thin smile.

"Well, I…" Susan said, pulling her fingers through her hair. "I don't know, Doctor."

She sat down next to the biggest rock, looking up at him.

"The witch made us both remember something horrible", she said. "I don't know what you remembered, but I know that it affected you, just like my memory affected me."

He sat down in front of her.

"She made me remember loss", he answered. "The loss of a friend…"

He looked away, his eyes darkened.

"What happened to her?" Susan asked slowly.

"I lost her", he sighed. "That's all…"

Susan nodded, looking down at the ground, picking up a straw and trying to make knots on it.

"I remembered a loss too", she said. "The loss of my family… she killed them."

A single tear fell down her cheek when she once again remembered the fire. But now it wasn't that painful. Well, it was still painful, but it was easier to live through it.

"That is why I live here now", she explained. "My house was burned to the ground, along with the rest of my family… my pets… my life."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault", she said, shaking her head. They both sat in silence, looking into the distance.

"What was it that you used to kill the giant?" Susan asked.

"A sonic screwdriver", the Doctor answered, taking the device out from his inner pocket. Susan studied it as it lay in his hand.

"Have you built it yourself?" she asked. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"Well, it's handy and that's all you need to know at the moment", the Doctor said, putting the screwdriver back in his pocket. She raised an eyebrow at him and then shook her head.

"Shall we take a walk?" he asked, rising and offering her a hand. She tilted her head, curious, before she grabbed it and stood up beside him.

As they walked down to the lawn next to the wood, they were both silent.

"I guess you've heard people saying that they understand how you feel", the Doctor said after some time. "And you're probably extremely tired of hearing that, but I do actually understand you."

"You do?"

Susan looked surprised and turned towards him. He met her gaze for a moment before he turned away.

"I am a Time Lord", he said. "From the world of Gallifrey… well, the world that was Gallifrey."

"You mean… you're an alien?" Susan said, raising an eyebrow at him once again.

"Yes."

"And your home… Gallifrey, is that world gone?"

The Doctor sighed and nodded.

"I am the last of the Time Lords, Susan", he said. "The last of my kind. Just like you."

"Hey, I'm not the last of my kind, just the last of my family", she said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Isn't that the same?" he said, turning towards her. "Your people are your family, Susan. You lost your people, your family, your life, your home… and so did I."

Susan nodded, taking away her hand from his shoulder.

"And I have no idea why I'm telling you this", he said after a while, looking at her. "I've only known you since this morning and at first you were avoiding me."

Susan smiled at him.

"I guess that we've grown to trust each other", she answered. He grinned for the first time since before they'd met the witch and took her hand, squeezing it.

"Good word that, _trust_", he said. They shared a laugh as they continued to walk.

"You know, since you saved my life…"

"I didn't, you did", she protested. He grinned once again.

"Well, if you hadn't come up to shoot the giant, none of us would be here, right? So it was you that saved us. And you also showed me that even though you've lost so much, there are still things worth living for… so maybe you would fancy joining me and Martha on a trip?"

"You mean in your spaceship or something?" she said. He smiled once again and pulled her towards the old kindergarten. There they stopped in front of a blue, wooden box.

"That is the TARDIS", the Doctor said as he slowly released her hand. "Time Irrelative Dimension in Space."

"How can you get instruments and such things in there?" Susan asked and walked around the box.

"Take a look", he said as she once again reached the front. He then opened the door and she stepped inside. Susan let out a gasp of surprise. What had from the outside seemed to be a box hardly a meter in square-metres was now a circular room about ten metres across.

"Oh my God!" she whispered. "It's like stepping through the Wardrobe into Narnia or something!"

She turned towards him and smiled.

"It's really beautiful, Doctor."

He smiled back at her.

"But, if you can travel in time, can't you redo things that went wrong?" Susan asked, looking at the controls.

"I'm afraid not", the Doctor answered, stepping inside and pulling off his jacket. "Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden. But, it's fun to go to places far away in time and see them with your own eyes."

Susan nodded, hardly noticing Martha coming in through the door.

"You don't mind if she accompanies us on a trip, do you?" the Doctor asked his friend. Martha smiled.

"No, not at all."

"Well, then!"

The Doctor closed the doors behind Martha by snapping his fingers and then he ran up to the controls. Susan stepped aside, standing beside Martha on the other side of the controls.

"You're ready?" he asked, looking up at her. She laughed, shaking her head.

"Of course not."'

He grinned as he fired up the TARDIS and they whirled away through time and space.


End file.
